Photo Friday: Las Vegas, Nevada

Written byKristin

SVV turned 35 two weeks ago. Every birthday, I try to give him an “experience” instead of a concrete gift. Two years ago when I was still in New York, we did Wine Country. Last year, it was Seattle. This year…Vegas!

I didn’t tell him where we were going until we got to the Virgin America gate on Friday night. I had told him three months ago I’d be whisking him away this weekend, and the suspense was killing him. Many times, he tried to drag it out of me. I’m usually quick to cave. But not this time!

We stayed at the Venetian resort, where all the rooms are massive suites. They were pretty luxe, we thought—until we woke up the first morning to find our bathroom hadn’t been cleaned after the last inhabitants (it was nasty, yo), and there was a large dirty bandage stuck to the wall. Nice.

Still, the interior sure was purty.

It was too hot to do much of anything. Even sit by the pool. At 112 degrees, we only lasted about an hour. So we moseyed about the city, in and out of the air-conditioned shops and resorts, taking lots of pictures, as we’ve been known to do. SVV even thinks like I do these days: “I smell a Photo Friday coming!”

(He’s cute. He humors me. I think I’ll keep him.)

I loved how the inside of many of the shopping centers mimicked little international village. Kitschy. Cute.

The highlight of our trip, no doubt, was seeing Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles-themed show, Love. It wasn’t your stereotypical Cirque show; while there was plenty of flipping and trapeze-type tricks, it was more balletic than pure acrobatic. With all the elaborate colors, dancing, costumes and other oddities, it was like one pleasant two-hour acid trip. Just like the Beatles would have wanted it, I’m sure.

We missed the free Sirens show at Treasure Island (you know, the pirate extravaganza in Miss Congeniality 2), because we were so in awe of the Bellagio’s nighttime fountain show, that we stayed for not one…

…not two…

…but three different numbers. Apparently, it’s a different routine every time.

At the end of the day, I’m a bit sad to say neither of us loved Vegas. It was just too overwhelming and trashy for our liking.

Will we going back? Probably not. But Vegas is one of those places everyone must experience in his or her life, so now we can check that one off the list.

Yeah, I’ve been to Vegas a couple times and was never all that impressed. Your bathroom situation sounds pretty repulsive and I had a similar misfortune of finding um…semen and other oddities on my sheets. Although I have to say that the old strip is pretty neat. Sadly, most people don’t think to go see it.

Yup, sounds a lot like my Vegas experience last year, right down to the not-very-clean-at-all room (though we were at the MGM Grand). Glad you guys had fun, even if you wouldn’t go back. When do you start being around here again for a little while — I haven’t seen you in approximately forever!

i secretly love vegas. but perhaps it was because we were upgrade to a penthouse suite the last time we were there (which was total random luck)!
the bellagio fountain show is AMAZING. we too stayed and watched it for a good hour and a half. i watched a documentary on the fountain and apparently rebecca romaijn actually choreographed a fountain show. which is crazy!

I hate to say I love Vegas. But Mike and I are poker players, so maybe that’s why. Or, fine, maybe we sort of have a trashy side we try to keep under wraps. Regardless, glad to know you enjoyed Love. We’re going in October and were toying with seeing it ourselves. We saw O our last time in Vegas and loved it.

I have mixed feelings about Vegas. There’s lots of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and of course casinos to visit. There’s also the fabulous buffets! The thing is, the themes and motifs from these places can feel cheap and fake. I guess you take the good with the bad.

Rene wants to visit Vegas for my birthday this fall. We want to book a room at Mandalay Bay and spend a few days hanging out at their fake beach (I am terrified of swimming in the ocean!), followed by a visit to Grand Canyon and/or Hoover Dam.

I like Vegas, but I live in Arizona, so it’s just a stone’s throw away. With a group of friends and a weekend, it can make for a good time. Love, love, love your pics! So glad you sucessfully pulled off the big surprise!

I just went to Vegas for the first time 2 weeks ago. NOT A FAN. I’m too cheap to gamble and too outdoorsy to be stuck inside a contrived, over-air conditioned tourist mecca. Though, it was definitely a slice of Americana, that’s for sure. And I liked the people-watching.

(I have a video of the Bellagio fountain routine, set to the song….Viva! Las Vegas!)

(He’s cute. He humors me. I think I’ll keep him.) And, he has no head (see photo of SVV photographing statue). Sorry, couldn’t help myself. :o) Looks like a lovely trip and yes, everyone should see Las Vegas once in their lifetime.

Beatles Love was exactly how you described it. I thought of Vegas the same way until my family and I rented a houseboat on Lake Mead. It really made the trip great because you saw the artificial kitsch and the natural beauty together.

Ooh ‘Love’, I’d forgotten how much I ‘loved’ that show! We saw it in 2006 and it was brilliant! I have to say, I did love Vegas too, we spent 3 days there as part of a road trip: LA-Vegas-San Diego-Mexico and I really enjoyed the shiny, tacky, glitzy side of it all.
The Bellagio fountains are amazing, I think we stayed through 2 shows as well, with my favourite being the Andrea Boccelli one. (We walked away when Celine Dion came on, not my cup of tea!)
Excellent birthday present idea I hope SVV had a great birthday, and now I’m wondering if my boyfriend would like to go back there next April…

I want to go to Vegas. J went to school there eons ago and lived there and played in a band when he was younger. I have a good tourguide once we get there. (I love slot machines, but other gambling freaks me out) (it;s me from Movin’ Down the Road)

I’ve only been to Vegas once, when jparks and I got married there. I’ve got to agree with you that it’s a bit cheesy but I think we’re going to give it another try in the future, but with another couple that used to be locals. They swear they know how to avoid the cheesy factor, so we’ll see.

You didn’t see Le Reve or KA
LOVE is okay….
those two shows above are the BEST.
come for a night, do the two shows, and go home. i believe that you really havent experienced VEGAS truly until you have seen those two shows.